Minor Fictional Characters in The War That Came Early

This article lists the various minor fictional characters who appear in The War That Came Early series. These characters play at best a peripheral role in the series. Most were simply mentioned once, or had a very brief, unimportant speaking role that did not impact the plot, and never appeared again. Most are identified by a name, but not all of them are.

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Captain Alexandre was an officer in the French Army. He was killed in action during the winter of 1943-4. Lieutenant Aristide Demange, who took over Alexandre's command, heard that Alexandre had been an "aristo," and so Demange took sour pride in having a "gutter rat" like himself take over.[1]

Ned Altrock was a Democratic Party fixer in Pennsylvania. In late 1943 he called Peggy Druce to ask her if she was willing to do more speeches in support of the Administration throughout the state in preparations for the elections the following year. Druce agreed on the condition that her expenses be covered like the last time. Altrock not only found that acceptable, he offered Druce a stipend since money would be tighter for her after her divorce from Herb.[2]

In the late winter of 1940, Anton and a number of comrades were sitting in an abandoned house in an occupied village in northeastern France. They were listening to the radio. An official newsreader announced the Soviet surrender to Japan and made the logically suspect statement that the Soviets would soon surrender in the west as well. Anton pointed out the illogic of this editorial comment. Dernen attempted to warn him that it was not safe to say such things publicly, and Baatz impugned Anton's patriotism.

It was apparent that Anton truly did not understand the political considerations at work and became very defensive about his right to express so self-evident a feeling. This drew him into a vicious argument with Baatz. Most of the soldiers in the house sided with Anton because of Baatz's unpopularity, but Baatz left the house. Dernen said he was likely going to denounce Anton to the authorities. Anton still could not understand what he'd done wrong and proceeded to bicker with Dernen, pointing out that Dernen had been close to the defector Wolfgang Storch. (The German authorities did not know that Storch had defected, but they did know that his disappearance during a French bombardment had conveniently come right before the SS had the opportunity to arrest him, and suspected--correctly--that Dernen had been involved in the disappearance.) Anton eventually stormed out of the house himself when other soldiers told him to shut up so they could listen to the music.[3]

Rear Admiral Markus Apfelbaum was a high-ranking officer at the submarine base at Wilhelmshaven. His duties included enforcing political correctness on personnel connected to that base. In 1942, he learned through one of his spies of politically questionable comments indiscreetly made by Julius Lemp when Lemp had put in at Wilhelmshaven for a refit. Apfelbaum summoned Lemp to his office and dressed him down.[4]

In late 1942, Ivan Kuchkov and his squad encountered a group of Ukrainian nationalists led by a man who, in Kuchkov's opinion, looked like "Leon Trotsky's kid brother". Throughout the encounter, Kuchkov mentally referred to the leader as Baby Trotsky.

Kuchkov parleyed with the group alone, ultimately convincing Baby Trotsky and the other Ukraninans to leave the woods so the Soviets could set up a position against the Germans. He was able to convince the whole group that since the Germans were retreating from Ukraine, the Ukrainians were completely vulnerable to his unit.

Kuchkov was disgusted by the fact that although he was obviously the leader, Baby Trotsky had to speak to the other members of the nationalist band before making a decision.[6]

Helmut Bauer was a squadmate of Hans-Ulrich Rudel. In 1941, as the winter turned to spring, and Germany restarted its drive on Smolensk, Bauer wondered how useful Germany's new ally, Romania would be in protecting Germany's flank in southern Ukraine.[7]

During a lull in the fighting in 1943 in Belgium, a farmer ambled along in no-man's-land in front of Lt. Aristide Demange's company. Demange was suspicious of him, that he might be spying out his company's positions, and so called him over. The farmer pretended to not hear but when Demange put a rifle bullet a meter or two in front of him, the farmer decided to come over and talk. When Demange demanded to know what he was doing, the farmer replied he was selling the Germans applejack. He didn't have any bottles on him but dropped his trousers and showed he had two large hot-water bottles down the legs of his long johns. Demange checked, found they indeed contained applejack and so bought the two bottles for two francs. This was grossly under priced but the farmer was in no position to refuse and left after being told to get lost. Demange then gathered his troops and suggested they needed to "destroy the evidence" if the farmer complained to the brass. They did this with relish.[9]

Benno was a friend of Sgt. Hermann Witt's. The two went through basic training together and though Benno went into the infantry and Witt into panzers, they stayed in touch. They found themselves in the same sector while fighting the Soviet Red Army in Poland and renewed their friendship. Benno told Witt about one of the patrols he went on where they found the mutilated bodies of soldiers from another patrol. The Soviets had cut off their cocks and stuffed them into their mouths as a terror tactic. When Witt told this to his panzer crew, Adalbert Stoss expressed the hope they were dead before it was done to them.[10]

Joe Billings was a British sergeant who by 1941 had already been stationed in Egypt for quite some time. He struck up a friendly conversation with his newly arrived fellow sergeant Alistair Walsh when Walsh arrived in North Africa to take part in the campaign against Italy. He also apprised Walsh of the situation on the ground, explaining that much of the Italian resistance was halfhearted and that even when it wasn't, the British could usually outlast their undersupplied enemies.[11]

Boileau was a French soldier in World War II. He was also a communist. Boileau was happy to fight against Germany but expressed an unwillingness to fight against the Soviet Union as it became increasingly apparent that the French government intended to join Germany's war effort against the USSR.

Boileau's unwillingness to fight the Russians led him to brawl with Paul. The two men were evenly matched, and after each had injured the other, they appealed to their squad commander, Sergeant Luc Harcourt. Harcourt showed impartiality in disciplining them equally for each assaulting the other, but took Paul's side (however reluctantly) in the issue which led to the brawl. He warned Boileau that he would be expected to follow his orders. The only alternative would be mutiny and he would be executed if he tried. Nonplussed, Boileau attempted to convince Harcourt to join him in mutiny before the exchange ended.[13]

Denis Boucher was a French soldier during the Second World War. After finishing basic training in 1939, he was assigned to Corporal Luc Harcourt's squad. Though he was only one year younger than Harcourt, he was in awe of the NCO, and of NCOs in general. He asked Harcourt for advice on how to deal with his woman, whom he expected of being unfaithful in his absence. Harcourt advised him that, if she was not willing to wait for him to return, she wasn't worth worrying over anyway. Boucher indignantly responded that he loved her.[14]

Several days after this incident, Boucher failed to answer roll call. Harcourt reported him MIA to Sergeant Aristide Demange. Both NCOs reflected indifferently that he might have been killed in action or he might have deserted, but either way he was no longer their concern.[15]

Charles was a French soldier in Luc Harcourt's squad. After the British abrogated the Hess Agreement and resumed hostilities against Germany, Charles became demoralized and wished his own government would do the same. He confessed these feelings privately to Harcourt and also confessed that he was considering deserting, encouraged to do so by a safe passage which the Red Air Force had provided via a pamphlet drop. A very short while later, he and the rest of his squad came upon the body of a French soldier who had attempted to defect. The Soviets had tortured, killed, and desecrated his body. This discouraged Charles from deserting himself, but his morale remained very low.[18]

Wilmer Christiansen (d. 1938) was a volunteer with the Lincoln Brigade that fought in support of the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. Chaim Weinberg was acquainted with him and thought he was an all right guy. Christiansen was killed on the Ebro in 1938. When Weinberg returned to the U.S. in 1944 after the Republicans won the war, he discovered that his passport had expired and he was delayed entry until it could be straightened out. Mr. Simmons, a customs service supervisor, was satisfied when Weinberg correctly described Christiansen who was Simmons' nephew.[19]

Claude was a tall, broad-shouldered Frenchman living in the village of Watigny where he owned and operated a tavern. He had served in the French Army during World War I and had been wounded in the head, losing an eye which he covered with a patch. He had spent two years as a POW where he picked up some German.[20]

The village was overrun and occupied by the Germans during the Battle of France and the divisional commander ordered marks be accepted at ten francs to the one. Claude kept his tavern open and had German soldiers in addition to his usual patrons. One evening, Willi Dernen and Wolfgang Storch came in and, avoiding the table occupied by Cpl. Arno Baatz and some other non-comms, sat down and ordered drinks. They were served by Claude's pretty young daughter which upset Baatz since Claude served him directly. When Claude refused to have his daughter serve him, Baatz attacked Claude giving him a blow that should have knocked the older man down if not out. But Claude just blinked his good eye and then smacked Baatz with a blow that knocked him over backwards causing him to smash his head on the stone floor. Baatz didn't move and Dernen fearfully asked if he were still alive. Claude checked and then laconically replied that "He lives". Claude then turned to Baatz's companions and told them Baatz was no longer welcome and to remove him.[21]

Lt. Aristide Demange was not very impressed with his regimental commander who he thought of as Monsieur le Colonel. Even though le Colonel had promoted Demange from second to full lieutenant and appointed him to command a company, Demange thought him a fool and coward.[22] Christmas 1943 found Demange and his company encamped in a field between a village the French had advance from and one the Germans still held. Monsieur le Colonel was snug in the mayor's house and refused to advance in winter and to allow Demange to retreat to the village. However, Demange managed to annoy le Colonel enough to have him order Demange's company to try to take the village by themselves and without artillery support. Demange succeeded by stealth and deceit to do so using a night attack and he hoped le Colonel would not try to kill him that way again for a while.[23]

Loretta Conway was the president of a women's club in York, Pennsylvania. When the Democratic Party gave Peggy Druce a trial run as a speaker at fundraisers for the party and the war effort, Mrs Conway's club sponsored her first event.

Conway's 24-year-old son had volunteered for service when the US went to war with Japan. Conway's concern for her son's safety allowed her to speak movingly of the importance of popular support for the war effort in a private conversation with Druce. Peggy was so impressed that she suggested Conway speak at rallies herself, but Conway dismissed the idea immediately, citing her fear of public speaking.[24]

In October 1938, a Mongolian Officer who believed himself to be in danger of being arrested and purged by Khorloogiin Choibalsan fled to Manchukuo to escape the communist dictator's reach. There he surrendered himself to a squad of Japanese soldiers led by Sergeant Hideki Fujita. In a broken Chinese conversation with Shinjiro Hayashi, he promised significant information on the disposition of Russo-Mongolian forces in the disputed border region between the two puppet states. He also provided Fujita and his comrades with the very valuable intelligence that the Soviet authorities in Mongolia were planning to grow far more cautious and conservative in their prosecution of the running war with Japan in the face of developments in Czechoslovakia.[26]

Commander Robert Eichenlaub of the Kriegsmarine was the commanding officer of the U-boat base at Narvik. His command was a largely improvised affair; Narvik was able to provide refits and supplies for the U-boats that docked there, but struggled to cater to the recreational needs of their crews. Of particular difficulty was establishing brothels in straitlaced northern Norway. Eichenlaub argued with U-boat skippers Julius Lemp and Hans-Dieter Kessler when the two skippers suggested he force women to provide sexual services for their crews against their will.[30]

Eichenlaub also instructed Lemp to discipline his crew when a number of them (along with sailors from other U-boats) were involved in a large and costly brawl at a tavern established on the Narvik base. Lemp cited the brawl as symptomatic of the substandard recreational facilities available at Narvik.[31]

Second Lieutenant Vladimir Federov (d. 1940) was assigned to Sergei Yaroslavsky's SB-2 bomber as his co-pilot in 1940, replacing Anastas Mouradian. He proved competent, if not as outstanding as his predecessor, but held a mutual dislike for his bombardier Ivan Kuchkov. During a night raid on a German ammunition stockpile in late 1940, his plane was shot down, and Federov was presumably killed along with Yaroslavsky.

Feodosiya (b. ca. 1913) was a Ukrainian woman in a small village in the western part of that SSR. In 1943, when the Red Army force that had driven the Wehrmacht out became bogged down in the Fall Rasputitsa, Sgt. Ivan Kuchkov started a brief affair with her. She remarked on how hairy he was but before Kuchkov could get angry, she added she liked that in a man because it made her sure she wasn't messing around with another girl.[34]

Bruno Gadermann was a private in Arno Baatz' squad. When they and their regiment were recalled to Münster to help put down the insurrection, Gadermann had trouble with the idea since he felt he had put on the uniform to protect the GermanVolk, not suppress them. Baatz's response was that they were there to protect the state and that they were to follow orders. Gadermann saw the dangers in disagreeing and backed down but was not satisfied. The next day, the squad went out on patrol and Gadermann remarked that with the damage the city had received from the RAF, no wonder the populace was unhappy with the government. Baatz exploded in rage at him but was reluctant to report Gadermann to the Loyalty Officer for fear that it might turn the rest of the squad against him rather than intimidate them.[35]

Gladys was a typing clerk at Herb Druce's office. While Herb's wife Peggy was stranded in Europe for nearly two years on account of World War II, Herb, who found himself growing increasingly lonely, began a brief extramarital affair with Gladys.

Douglas Green was a CPO in the Royal Navy during World War II. He was in London in the summer of 1940 and paid his respects during the funeral procession of Winston Churchill. He overheard a boisterous young man express agreement with a group of Silver Shirt-uniformed hecklers organized by the BUF and provoke Alistair Walsh into a fight. Green was prepared to attack the rightist from behind but Walsh managed to knock him out cold with just one blow. Green then invited Walsh to join him at a pub, where they listened to Churchill's funeral liturgy on the radio. Both senior non-coms were incredulous when they heard Neville Chamberlain announce that the Government intended to honor Churchill's memory by going to war with the Soviet Union.[37]

Colonel Otto Griehl was the commander of Theo Hossbach's regiment in the spring of 1941. A thorough individualist, Hossbach was unimpressed by authority figures in general, and was disdainful of what he perceived as grandiosity in Griehl's attempts to get his subordinates excited before battle. However, he did admit that Griehl was a brave soldier and a competent commander.[38]

Wolfgang Gruber was Willi Dernen's commanding officer in the fall of 1941. He warned Dernen that one day soon the Soviets would detonate thousands of green flares over their lines, and that this would signal the French to cross the lines.[39]

Eddie Gryboski was a politician from Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1942, he was the master of ceremonies at a Democratic campaign rally at a local Masonic lodge. Peggy Druce and George Raft were featured speakers. Gryboski had a playful sense of humor, which he showed by wearing a tie with a picture of a buxom hula girl. Raft called attention to this tie with his jokes in between serious messages about the importance of winning the war in Asia.[40]

Sam Grynszpan was a stateless Jew originally from somewhere in Europe. After being displaced, he eventually found himself in Shanghai, where he owned and operated the Golden Lotus Dance Hall. He employed Vera Kuznetsova, a White Russian dance girl. Grynszpan may have been attracted to Vera himself, but he advised her to take advantage of US MarinePete McGill when McGill became infatuated with her. Grynszpan and Vera agreed that he could offer her a good meal ticket.[41]

Gustav was a technician at the German submarine base at Wilhelmshaven. Gustav was an old acquaintance of Julius Lemp. In 1942, Lemp attempted without much success to learn political gossip from Gustav. In the course of this conversation, Lemp indiscreetly made several politically cynical comments to Gustav.[42] Gustav later reported these comments to Markus Apfelbaum.[43] Gustav and Lemp continued to maintain a correct if chilly relationship after the fact.[44]

Captain Hammersmith commanded Sgt. Alistair Walsh's company in the winter of 1943-4. He was frustrated by a pair of well sited MG-42s that prevented the company from advancing further into Belgium. Not knowing what to do about it, he ordered Walsh to deal with them. Walsh saw that the guns had open ground in front and to the flanks allowing them to slaughter anyone advancing in a two-mile-wide semicircle. He elected to carry out a night attack which proved successful. The Germans stopped firing at nightfall and Walsh and his soldiers succeeded in slipping right up to the emplacements without being seen. They emptied full magazines of Sten gun fire followed by Mills bombs though the firing slits. The soldiers then entered the nests, plundered the bodies, carried off the machine guns and booby-trapped the positions with trip wires and more Mills bombs.[45]

Major Hataba was the commanding officer of the Japanese ArmyUnit 113 in Burma in late 1941. He promised his subordinates that he would obtain permission to use biological warfare against the British Raj, a prospect which excited them. However, he did not receive this permission. His men wisely decided not to mention it at all.[46]

Captain Ikejiri was Corporal Hideki Fujita's CO at Pingfan. Fujita humbly but insistently asked Ikejiri for a transfer after the disgrace of allowing three AmericanMarine prisoners to escape, saying his embarrassment meant he was no longer able to serve the Empire effectively at Pingfan. Ikejiri approved Fujita's transfer to Unit 113 on the Sino-Burmese border.[50]

Matilda Jenkins was a working-class woman from Erie, Pennsylvania, in her late 60s. She was the mother of Constantine Jenkins. When Peggy Druce spoke in Erie, Matilda met her and told her that her son had been very impressed with her. Apparently Constantine had told his mother quite a lot about Peggy, for Matilda seemed to know many details of their relationship. This made Peggy extremely uncomfortable, as she was ashamed of her affair with the diplomat. However, if Mrs. Jenkins mother knew that particular detail, she did not share it with Druce.[52]

Elijah "Jonesy" Jones (d. January, 1941) was a Marine private who served as a shell jerker aboard the USS Boise at the outbreak of war between the United States and Japan. Because of his bad back, his immediate superior, Corporal Joe Orsatti, opted to replace Jonsey with Pete McGill. During a Japanese attack, a piece of shrapnel ripped Jonesy's throat out. He was buried at sea.[53]

Hans-Dieter Kessler was a veteran U-boat skipper of the Kregsmarine and longtime acquaintance of Julius Lemp. In the summer of 1941 his crew was assigned to hunt for British troopships carrying the BEF home to the UK from Soviet ports on the Arctic Ocean. His boat operated out of the U-boat base at Narvik in occupied Norway. He was disappointed at the inadequate recreational facilities at Narvik, saying that it denied his crew a much-needed opportunity to unwind after a stressful mission. After Kessler shared these feelings with Lemp, Lemp suggested he mention it to the base's CO, Commander Robert Eichenlaub. Lemp had had such a conversation with Eichenlaub literally minutes before, and hoped that the senior officer might be persuaded by having a number of skippers repeat the point over and over.[54]

Klaus was a cook for the Luftwaffe during the German-ledinvasion of the Soviet Union. Despite his low rank, Klaus showed no deference at all to the officers set over him, who took his insubordination for the good-natured ribbing it really was, and responded in kind.[55]

Klaus was in the Wehrmacht and part of Gefreiter Eberhard Rothmann's squad in 1943 when they were attacked by a Mills bomb and then gun fire. He, Rothmann and the rest of the squad surrendered but Klaus got into an argument with Rothmann when the latter told Sgt. Alistair Walsh that the German people had enough of the foolishness of the lost war. Walsh wasn't interested in the disagreement and had several of his soldiers take them back behind the lines and and their wounded to an aid station.[56]

Corporal Barney Klinsmann was a US Marine serving aboard the USS Ranger. He quarreled with Pete McGill. The two Marines were ordered to end their quarrel by their superior, but they only pretended to do so, instead arranging to meet late at night for a brawl. Both were injured in the confrontation, but Klinsmann's injuries were far more severe, at one point verging on critical. Neither McGill nor Klinsmann admitted to the source of their injuries.[57] McGill's defeat of Klinsmann left other Marines slightly intimidated by the sergeant.[58]

Lieutenant Colonel Koch (d. 1939) commanded Theo Hossbach's panzer regiment on the Eastern Front in Poland. By all accounts he was a brave officer with a good tactical sense. However, the Waffen-SS found him complicit in a coup d'etat attempted by some Wehrmacht generals in the High Command. He was arrested and executed before his troops as an example of what happened to officers who went against the German government.

The gathered panzer crews were not happy and close to mutiny. A dozen Waffen-SS troopers would not stand a chance but the fear that it would lead to fighting between rebel and loyalist Wehrmacht units helped keep this in check. As the order for the firing squad to aim their weapons rang out, Lt. Col. Koch could have sparked the rebellion by denouncing Hitler but instead shouted "Long live Germany!"

After Koch was pronounced dead, the SS captain in charge allowed the panzer crews to bury him. In a show of respect, Koch received a much fancier grave than most with a large cross that had "Fallen for the Vaterland" written on the horizontal arm. Sgt. Hermann Witt looked at it and remarked to Hossbach and Adalbert Stoss that a letter from his father had commented that death notices sometimes said "Fallen for the Führer and Vaterland" while others indicted just "Fallen for the Vaterland".[59]

Major Koral commanded Sgt. Ludwig Rothe's panzer battalion from the beginning of hostilities in 1938. After certain generals failed in a coup d'etat against Adolf Hitler, the SS investigated associated Wehrmacht officers including Koral. Koral was suspected because of his long association with Generals Fritsche and Halder, his possible membership with the Social Democrats before 1933 and that one of his cousins had been married to a Jew. A SS captain interviewed Rothe and his subordinates Fritz Bittenfeld and Theo Hossbach but they did not provide any suspicious information. Nevertheless, Major Koral was arrested and taken back to Germany.

Koral had been quite brave in combat, wounded twice, and awarded an Iron Cross, First Class during the course the current war.[60]

Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Krasnikov commanded Lt. Anastas Mouradian's squadron in 1944 when he got into a dispute with Lt. Vladimir Ostrogorsky over his "pussy". After Mouradian sucker-punched Ostrogorsky and then kicked him in the solar plexus, Krasnikov called him onto the carpet. Mouradian explained he hit Ostrogorsky as hard as he had in the hopes of ending things at once rather than doing it over and over. Krasnikov acknowledged that there was no permanent damage aside from a broken tooth and that Mouradian had been provoked and so dismissed him.[61]

Friedrich Lauterbach was a professor of ancient history at the university in Münster. He had studied under Samuel Goldman as a graduate student and still felt kindly towards him even after the passage of the Nuremberg Race Laws. This prevented Goldman from teaching but Lauterbach helped him out by publishing articles written by Goldman in Pauly-Wissowa under his own name and passing the fee to Goldman. This lasted until Lauterbach was called up for military service. He gave Goldman twice the going rate for his final article and exchanged best wishes before leaving Goldman's house.[62]

In 1944, after the Committee for the Salvation of the German Nation successfully overthrew the Nazis, it revoked the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935. Goldman considered paying a call on the university, both to see if he could regain his old position and to see if Lauterbach survived the war. Goldman's daughter was especially eager about the latter as Lauterbach had previously indicated an interest in her before it became too dangerous for gentiles and Jews to have such relationships.[63]

Colonel Joachim von Lehnsdorff was with the German General Staff when the Panzer Regiment began to move into Münster to help put down the insurrection. Theo Hossbach heard on his radio a command by von Lehnsdorff to all panzers to halt and return to their encampment. When challenged by a company commander, von Lehnsdorff stated his name and rank and that their regimental commander had been relieved for exceeding his authority. The panzer commanders were, for the most part, relieved to follow the order and returned to camp.[65]

Sgt. Vince Lindholm was a US Marine quartermaster. He was assigned duties on Midway Island without being told of the quarantine that had been imposed due to the Japanese previously using it as a base for germ warfare. One of Lindholm's first duties was to issue the new helmets to the marines garrisoning the island.[66]

When Lindholm found out about the quarantine, he pitched a "hellacious tantrum" to no avail. Sgt. Pete McGill, one of the marines to receive the new helmet from him, came across him shortly thereafter and asked him if he could requisition some vaccinated prostitutes to the island to service the marines. McGill said he had mentioned the idea to a doctor earlier but he was too much of a prude to do anything. Lindholm was reluctant at first but decided he had nothing to lose. He sent in the paperwork for ten blondes, ten brunettes and ten redheads and received a rejection in record time along with a reprimand for wasting the War Department's valuable time.[67]

McGill asked Longstreet to authorize his marriage to Vera Kuznetsova. Longstreet did not deny McGill's request out of hand but explained to him that for an active duty US serviceman to marry a stateless person in a foreign country posed extreme legal difficulties.[68]

Diego Lopez (b. ca. 1893) was a farmer in a Nationalist held part of Spain. In late 1943, the Republicans succeeded in advancing such that his farm fell into their territory. Two young Republican soldiers thought he was a counterrevolutionary for supplying the Nationalists with food and so gave him a beating. They would have beaten him to death with their rifle butts but Chaim Weinberg of the Abe Lincolns intervened and managed to scare them off. Lopez invited Weinberg into his farmhouse and offered him wine in thanks. Weinberg accepted and suggested Lopez befriend the Internationalists for protection by offering them food.[69]

Louie was a wardheeler in a neighborhood in the Main Line section of Philadelphia. On the day of the Congressional election of 1942, he was stationed near a polling place in a firehouse two blocks from Peggy Druce's house. Throughout the day he harangued voters as they approached the firehouse, despite frequent orders from Walt to respect the law against electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place.[70]

Luis was one of two aides to General José Sanjurjo while the general was in exile in Portugal. Luis and the other aide, Orlando, initially load Sanjurjo's wardrobe into a small two-seater plane that was destined for Burgos. However, after some careful words from the pilot, Major Juan Antonio Ansaldo, Sanjurjo relented, and had Luis and Orlando remove the general's clothing from the cargo hold.[71]

Luis was a SpanishRepublican who helped fill out the ranks of the Abe Lincolns after the Americans suffered heavy casualties over the years of the Spanish Civil War. In 1943, with the Republicans advancing well, Chaim Weinberg asked Luis if he thought paying back the Nationalists too hard was a good idea. Luis answered that they had a lot to pay back for, what they had done to comrades like Mike Carroll and to the country as a whole.[72]

Sgt. Willi Maass was in Sgt. Ludwig Rothe's Panzer company during the invasion of the Netherlands. He commanded a captured CzechoslovakianLT vz 35. Rothe admired the Czech machine which had thicker armor and heavier gun than his own Panzer II although it did have an even more underpowered engine. The two shared cigarettes and discussed when the invasion would go forward while maintaining their machines at a concentration point near the border.[73]

A major in the British Army was a co-conspirator of Alistair Walsh in the coup d'etat which overthrew the government of Prime MinisterSir Horace Wilson in the spring of 1941. The major and Walsh were studying the defences of 10 Downing Street the day before Walsh was arrested. Walsh reflected at the time that the major was a good deal more conspicuous than would have been ideal for the task.[74] When the coup actually occurred, the major led a force which seized control of a prison where a number of conspirators, including Walsh, were being held. He appraised Walsh of the coup's success.[75]

Marcel was a private from Provençal in Lt. Aristide Demange's company in Belgium in 1943. While not at all bright, he was easy going, fought well and followed orders so Demange didn't ride him as hard as he might have since you didn't expect or want smarts in all of your privates.[76]

Marie was the girlfriend of Denis Boucher. When Boucher was conscripted into the French Army during the war, he worried that Marie might cheat on him while he was gone. She was always flirtatious, and had had a fight with Boucher before Boucher reported to Basic Training, a fight which was not resolved when Boucher left. Boucher confided all these things to his corporal, Luc Harcourt. Harcourt told him, not unkindly, that if she proved faithless in his absence, Marie was never worth Boucher's affection anyway, and he'd be better off forgetting her. Boucher took scant comfort in this advice, for he insisted that he really and truly loved her.

Several days after Boucher spoke with Harcourt, he failed to answer roll call. Harcourt was unable to determine whether he'd been killed in action or deserted to return to Marie. Harcourt did not particularly care either way, and neither did his superior, Sergeant Aristide Demange, to whom he reported Boucher as MIA. Demange, far less patient with raw recruits' foibles than was Harcourt, hoped that, if Boucher had deserted, he would find that Marie had been unfaithful and that she infected him with a venereal disease. Despite being more compassionate than the senior NCO, Harcourt found he agreed with the sentiment.[77]

Kapitan zur See Rochus Mauer was a senior engineering officer in the Kriegsmarine during World War II. For several years during the war, he had worked on the new new Type XXI U-boat. His development team had designed the new streamlined hull a couple of years before the war had ended but hadn't put it into production because Dr. Walther had come up with a new hydrogen peroxide-powered engine which would have revolutionized propulsion if it worked properly. Walther's political connections with people in the government caused the development team to waste time on trying to come up with ways to prevent the new engine from catching fire. Mauer lamented they had wasted two years on boats with good hulls and death-trap propulsion systems.[78]

When Kapitan Mauer explained the situation to Lt. Commander Julius Lemp as he showed him the new boat, Lemp hoped that with the change in government, they would not have to put up with that sort of political interference. Mauer agreed but was skeptical stating that generals would find new ways of fouling things up and if engineers such as himself were in charge, they would find yet another way.[79]

Gordon "Gordo" McAllister (also known as the Donkey but not within earshot) was a private in Staff Sergeant Alistair Walsh's company in Belgium in 1943/44. He was a hulking Scotsman, strong but not long on brains.[80] In the summer of 1943, McAllister and Pvt. Jack Scholes received training in a new American weapon called the bazooka. Scholes carried the launch tube while McAllister carried a supply of rockets in a sack. The two used it almost immediately, with Scholes taking out a Germanmachine gun emplacement and a Panzer IV with two well placed shots while McAllister loaded.[81]

Mikhail (d. 1944) was a replacement soldier in Sgt. Ivan Kuchkov's platoon, assigned in early 1944. He was lean and sallow with a Moskvitch accent. Kuchkov was suspicious he was an NKVD plant and became convinced when Mikhail challenged him as criticizing Soviet production over a joke Kuchkov made.

Kuchkov solved this dilemma during an skirmish with the Germans the next day. They advanced to take a village the Germans held but were pinned down by a MG-42. Kuchkov sent some soldiers in a flanking maneuver but they were cut down. Kuchkov ordered a retreat since they couldn't take the village. Mikhail was killed, with some of the other troops, in the flanking actions.[83]

Lorenz Müller was a Berlin police officer in his fifties. Peggy Druce happened to look at him when he came out of a tavern and suck beer foam out of his mustache while on duty. To cover his embarrassment, he demanded her papers. She showed him her American passport but he demanded she come with him to the police station. They appeared before a desk sergeant where Müller spoke in German too quickly for Druce to follow. The sergeant then asked Druce what happened. She explained she was an American and a neutral and showed him her passport. He looked at it and told her she was free to go. Müller spluttered in surprise and then was thoroughly reamed out by the sergeant.[84]

Captain Beverly Murdoch was a physician in the British Army stationed in Norway in the winter of 1939-40. Jock went to him complaining of venereal disease contracted while marching through a small Norwegian village several days earlier. The regulations of His Majesty's Armed Forces required doctors who treated men complaining of STDs to report their patients for disciplinary action, and Murdoch, a haughty upper-class Englishman, was a stickler for regulations. However, Alistair Walsh convinced Murdoch to report Jock's case as a skin infection by allowing Murdoch to believe that Walsh would find ways of retaliating against the doctor without actually threatening to do so.[85]

Despite this confrontational introduction, Walsh and Murdoch developed a fairly good rapport. This benefited Walsh in at least two areas: Murdoch somehow managed to retain an ample supply of cigarettes despite supply shortages among Allied forces on the Norwegian coast; and he also received information on upcoming movements before an infantry non-com normally would through official channels. He informed Walsh that the Royal Navy was extracting the Allies from Norway two days before this extraction took place, giving Walsh time to prepare his squad.[86]

Sgt. Pete McGill met with a doctor on Midway after the US Marines had taken the island back from the Japanese. He had wanted to know when they could leave the island but the doctor insisted they needed to remain quarantined there for the foreseeable future. The Japanese had used Midway as a forward base for germ warfare against Hawaii leaving possible spore for plague, anthrax and smallpox behind. McGill objected, stating that anyone who was going to get sick had done so but the doctor replied that no one knew that for certain and that if they spread any of the diseases elsewhere there would be hell to pay. McGill then demanded that the Navy at least set up a bordello with the working girls having their shots just as the Marines had but the doctor primly replied it would be immoral. When McGill tried to argue further, the doctor walked away.[87]

Eberhard Nehring was an electrician's mate who served aboard U-30 under the command of Julius Lemp. Nehring was a capable electrician's mate and enjoyed his captain's full confidence. He was a native of Munster, and had family ties to that city when it erupted in civil disobedience in the spring of 1943. Nehring made an indiscreet comment on these events in a letter home. The letter was intercepted by the Gestapo, which demanded that Nehring be relieved of duty, presumably so they could imprison and torture him. Their demands were met despite strenuous objections by Lemp.[88]

Nigel was a member of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France. He compared his regiment's predicament to the last war, when Field Marshal Douglas Haig was "doing his worst." Staff Sergeant Alistair Walsh, who'd been wounded in the last war, and lost an older cousin at Passchendaele, was inclined to agree. Since Nigel hadn't been born during the era of Haig's worst blunders, Walsh silently applauded his awareness of history.[89]

Nina was a young woman on a Ukrainiankolkhoz during the Germaninvasion of the USSR. She was attracted to strong, brawny men. She allowed herself to be seduced by the less-than-suave Ivan Kuchkov shortly before the Germans assaulted her village and Kuchkov's regiment.[90]

Yevgeni Borisovich Novikov was a Soviet POW captured by Luc Harcourt when Franceinvaded the USSR in 1941. Novikov, who spoke French fluently, shared with Harcourt his life story: how he was born to upper-middle class parents in the days before the Russian Revolution. His parents, being kulak landowners, were declared enemies of the state and executed by the Bolsheviks. Yevgeni was not executed, for which he counted himself lucky. He was conscripted into the Red Army and managed to earn promotion to corporal despite his politically incorrect background. He surrendered to the French Army knowing that he may be summarily killed, but believing that his fluency in French might keep him alive if intelligence officers decided it would be convenient to interrogate him.[91]

Orlando was one of two aides to General José Sanjurjo while the general was in exile in Portugal. Orlando and the other aide, Luis, initially load Sanjurjo's wardrobe into a small two-seater plane that was destined for Burgos. However, after some careful words from the pilot, Major Juan Antonio Ansaldo, Sanjurjo relented, and had Luis and Orlando remove the general's clothing from the cargo hold.[92]

In the spring of 1944, he mocked Mouradian's "pussy". Mouradian challenged him to take it outside the mess tent and almost immediately sucker-punched him. He followed up with a kick into the belly that caught Ostrogorsky in the solar plexus leaving him helpless. Mouradian fought so viciously in the hopes that it would intimidate others into not mocking him.[93]

Paul was a French soldier in World War II. His political orientation was right wing. He brawled with a comrade, Boileau, after Boileau, a communist, expressed his unwillingness to go to war with the Soviet Union as it became increasingly apparent that the French government intended to switch sides. Paul appealed to the two men's squad commander, Sergeant Luc Harcourt. Harcourt warned Boileau that he would be executed if he attempted to incite a mutiny, much to Paul's satisfaction. However, Harcourt was equally harsh in disciplining both men for fighting in the ranks.[94]

Wilf Peterson was a second lieutenant in the British Army stationed in Egypt. He was Alistair Walsh's commanding officer. Peterson's deference to Walsh went well beyond the normal amount which junior officers were informally expected to show senior noncoms. Walsh quickly realised that Peterson was intimidated by Walsh's connections to the military provisional government. [96]

Martin Priller was an electrician's mate in the Kriegsmarine. He was assigned to U-30 to replace Eberhard Nehring when Nehring was purged by the Gestapo.Julius Lemp quizzed Priller before the boat launched and concluded that Priller would be an acceptable replacement for Nehring, though he missed Nehring's experience and resented the injustice of his liquidation.[98]

Due to casualties among officers, Sgt. Ludwig Rothe commanded his Panzer platoon for short periods on more than one occasion. He didn't mind when Second Lieutenant Maximilian Priller took command, since while young he did have some notion of what to do with Panzers. Outside Coucy-le-Château Priller held a meeting with his Panzer commanders and outlined their line of attack past the town. While he made it sound easy, it proved to be anything but.[99]

Marcus Puttkamer (d. 1939) was a German sergeant and sniper sent to hunt Czech sniper Vaclav Jezek in France in 1939.[100] He befriended Willi Dernen and recruited Dernen to be his assistant in the snipers' duel--a very dangerous job, but one which allowed Dernen to escape Arno Baatz' chain of command. Puttkamer was so pleased with Dernen's performance that he trained Dernen to become a sniper himself.[101] His plan was for the two snipers to operate in loose cooperation to bag Jezek.[102] However, he wound up training Dernen as his replacement instead: The day Dernen began operating fully as a sniper was the day that Puttkamer fell to Jezek's rifle.[103]

Lieutenant Commander Friedrich Reinberger commanded a destroyer during World War II. He was in Berlin making a report on New Year's Eve 1938 and decided to celebrate at a local hotel. There he met Peggy Druce and joined her at her table. The two chatted and since Druce found him not a bad guy for a German, agreed to dance. The party was interrupted by an air raid forcing everyone into the hotel's bomb shelter.[105]

Paul Renouvin was a college student who had been drafted into the French Army just before the outbreak of the Second World War II in 1938. He was assigned to Sgt. Aristide Demange's squad and fought well enough. One day Demange boasted about the Calvados which he had found and filled his canteen. Renouvin surprised the rest of the squad by not being at all impressed stating "C'est rien", that is, "That's nothing". Demange demanded to know what he had and Renouvin replied Scotch from a dead Tommy officer. Demange scoffed and bet him his Calvados that he was lying. However, when Demange had a taste, he found Renouvin did have Scotch. Demange was disgusted but did pay off the bet which Renouvin shared with the rest of the squad.[106]

Rolf (d. 1940) was a German casualty of war in World War II. Toward the end of the winter of 1940, he and a number of his comrades were listening to the radio in an abandoned house in an occupied village in northeastern France. Their relaxation had been interrupted by a politically-charged argument among Arno Baatz, Willi Dernen, and Anton. After the argument ended and Baatz and Anton left the house, the soldiers, unsettled by the reminder that they lived under an increasingly totalitarian government, tried to recapture their earlier mood of relaxation by listening to the music of Barnabas von Geczy. Rolf inadvertently defeated these attempts by commenting that, while he enjoyed von Geczy, he would have preferred a jazz piece--jazz being a style of music outlawed under Nazi rule.[107]

After von Geczy's selection, the radio played a piece by Richard Wagner. Rolf left the room rather than listen to the opera composer. He was soon killed by a French sniper while crossing a broad, straight street before Dernen, a former sniper, could warn him to be careful.[108]

Eberhard Rothmann was Gefreiter with the Wehrmacht. In 1943 he was serving in Belgium when his squad of soldiers were attacked by Sgt. Alistair Walsh and a squad of British troops. Walsh had rushed up to the wall separating them, threw a Mills bomb over it and then sprayed blindly over it with his Sten gun. The squad rushed around the corner with weapons ready. Rothmann's squad had taken some casualties and so they surrendered. After getting permission to tend to their wounded, Rothmann, who knew some English, told Walsh he was glad to surrender since his leaders have taken his country twice into losing wars in 25 years.[109]

In 1938, Peggy Druce bought a leg of chicken from his shop. Rothstein was nervous to be selling to a Gentile but took Peggy's business. He also gave her good service, offering to bone the chicken leg so it would weigh less and she would have to use fewer ration coupons.[110]

As Druce left the butcher shop, the Gestapo was enraged that she had defied the Nuremberg Race Laws. They demanded to see her identity papers. Instead she showed them her US passport. She knew they dared not offend a powerful neutral country by unduly molesting its citizen, and she relished their frustration at their inability to punish her. Unfortunately, her triumph was short-lived, as the policemen simply brutalized Rothstein instead.[111]

Reverend Ruppelt was the minister at the First Presbyterian Church of York, Pennsylvania. His church hosted Peggy Druce when the Democrats sent her on a trial run to determine whether she would be an effective speaker on the fundraiser circuit.[112]

Shortly after the Committee for the Salvation of the German Nation launched its coup, Lt. Commander Fritz-Julius Lemp had a late night knock at the door of his officers' quarters room in Kiel. When he opened it, he found a Naval Lieutenant with a Schmeisser flanked by two petty officers with Mausers. The Lieutenant demanded to know which side Lemp was on without saying which he was. Lemp replied the Committee and the three relaxed. The Lieutenant explained they were clearing out the Nazi supporters and asked Lemp to follow them. He gave Lemp his Walther when Lemp indicated his personal weapon was back on the U-30 and then followed the three. In quick succession, they killed two other officers supporting the Party and then moved on to the next floor.[113]

Sergeant Schmidt was the radio operator / tail gunner in Rolf Wutka's Stuka during World War II. He and Wutka were shot down during a bombing raid over Paris in 1943. Hans-Ulrich Rudel saw the plane catch fire and go down but didn't know whose it was until he returned to his airfield.[114]

Mr. Simmons was a supervisor with the U.S. customs service in New York Harbor. In 1944, a subordinate had difficulties with Chaim Weinberg who had come back from Spain with an expired passport and called for Mr. Simmons to intervene. Simmons did so, listened to Weinberg's story of having fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and looked at his smashed left hand and his Spanish discharge papers. He then asked if Weinberg had known a Wilmer Christiansen in the Abraham Lincolns. Weinberg replied that he had, a long time ago, that Christiansen had been killed in 1938 on the Ebro, and that he had been an all right guy. Weinberg then asked why and Simmons replied he had been his nephew. He then straightened out Weinberg's irregularities with a few thumps from a rubber stamp and sent him on his way.[115]

Lieutenant-colonel Jacques Soupault was an officer in the French army during World War II. He was Luc Harcourt's regimental commander. In 1940 he promoted Harcourt from corporal to sergeant to recognize Harcourt's heroism the night before in repulsing a German trench raid. Harcourt, commander of a machine gun crew, had poured a withering fire into the enemy troops. Unknown to Soupault, Harcourt had done so only because the four tablets of codeine he'd taken after being shot in the ass had given him a surplus of nervous energy instead of having the more common sedative effect.[116]

When the building came under fire from a 105, the Sergeant formed up an assault force, including Corporal Arno Baatz, to try to overrun the gun. While taking casualties, the small force came close to the 105 but were thwarted by an appearance by a Panzer IV loyal to the Committee. Baatz shot the panzer commander standing in the turret and the Sergeant attempted to throw a grenade into the open hatch but failed. Both were gunned down by the panzer's hull gunner.[118]

Josef Stein was a GermanJew who owned a grocery store in Münster. During the war, the twin pressures of wartime rationing and anti-Semitic race laws forced Stein to sell low-quality produce at high prices. When his customers complained, Stein bitterly insisted that he was doing the best he could under the circumstances.[121]

When U-30 returned from the Scandinavian campaign, Tannenwald met its skipper, Julius Lemp, and ordered him to report to Dönitz "at his convenience" for a debriefing. After the debriefing was interrupted by news of a coup, Lemp asked Tannenwald for information, and Tannenwald urged him to return to his assigned barracks.[122]

Claus Valentiner was a trained Panzer IV driver who saw limited service in Belgium as the war wound down. He was wounded in the leg and, on recovery, assigned as driver to a Panzer IV in Münster. The panzer commander Hermann Witt had been wounded and the driver Adi Stoss took command. The crew had wondered if they would get a new sergeant or a new driver and with the assignment of Valentiner they found out that Stoss was being made the commander permanently.[124]

When Chaim Weinberg returned to New York City from Spain, he was held up on a pier in the harbor by a Customs Clerk. Weinberg was traveling with an expired passport so the clerk asked if he had any current identification. Weinberg showed him his discharge papers from the Spanish Republicans but the clerk looked at it in disdain and asked if he anything in English, French or even German. Weinberg denied he did but said that hisparents were on the other side of the barrier and could attest to him being the same person.

The clerk was not satisfied and call for Mr. Simmons, his supervisor. Simmons came over and listened as the two talked over each other. Simmons examined Weinberg's paperwork and his injured hand and then asked if he had known a Wilmer Christiansen in the Abraham Lincolns. When Weinberg showed he had, Simmons indicated Christiansen had been his nephew and then straightened out Weinberg's irregularities in a few minutes to the clerk's discontentment.[125]

Vanya was a soldier in Ivan Kuchkov's squad. Slow-witted and unintelligent, he nonetheless followed with only a little difficulty when Kuchkov warned him not to repeat a comment that could be interpreted as defeatist where it might be overheard by agents of the NKVD.[126]

Vernon Vaughn was a druggist in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He hosted Peggy Druce when she came to Carbondale to sell war bonds. He attempted to seduce Druce. She resisted the temptation quite easily. [127]

Walt was a policeman in Philadelphia. On Election Day, 1942, he was assigned to a firehouse two blocks from Peggy Druce's house. The firehouse was serving as a polling place, and Walt's duty was to enforce the prohibition against electioneering within 100 feet of the polling place--a prohibition which local wardheelers such as Louie frequently flouted.[128]

The two had a wait since Chaim's passport had expired but when he came out he greeted the two with hugs. On seeing his injured hand, Moishe offered to carry Chaim's duffel bag but Chaim said he could manage. When Moishe asked what he would do now that he was back in America, Chaim replied he wasn't sure, but in a land flowing with milk and honey, he was sure he could manage.[131]

Ruth was upset at Chaim's injured hand but he said it was okay, he could manage with it. Chaim looked around and was amazed by the wealth and lack of war damaged. Ruth mistook this, since things were not as good as they had been, and apologized saying it was due to the war with Japan. Chaim laughed uproariously and explained he was surprised at how good things looked compared to Spain. Chaim added he now understood their stories about shtetls since he had seen similar things.[132]

Rolf Wutka was a Stuka pilot in Hans-Ulrich Rudel's squadron. The two had gone to flying school together and served together until Wutka (along with his tail gunner Sgt. Schmidt) was shot down during a bombing raid over Paris in 1943. While the two didn't get along, Rudel was still shocked telling his CO that he felt a goose had walked on his grave and that not many were left from the start of the war. Colonel Steinbrenner agreed but also told Rudel to try to get some sleep since they would be flying again the next night if the weather held.[133]

Bradley Worthington III was the US consul-general in Shanghai. He was a prosperous Rotarian from the Midwest. He was also deceptively shrewd and intelligent.

In December 1939, he stepped outside the consulate to see the cause of several explosions. While outside, the sound of further explosions drove him to hit the deck, suggesting the reflexes of a World War I veteran. A Japanese soldier trained a rifle on Worthington, but his NCO prevented him from firing.[134]

Ichiro Yanai was a sergeant with the Japanese Army. He was part of the garrison on Midway Island after it was taken from the United States. After a particularly nasty bombing raid by the Americans, he got into a conversation with Sgt. Hideki Fujita. He noticed Fujita looking with concern at the tents of the bacteriological warfare unit but Fujita diverted his attention by commenting that the bombing didn't seem to have harmed their food stores at the supply depot in the same direction.[135]

At one point during the war, Yaroslavsky took shelter in a trench during a German air raid. Yaroslavsky remembered the smell of damp earth from his mother's burial and associated it with graves. Since he was being attacked with deadly force, the association was one he wished he had not made.

Colonel Ziegler was the commander of GermanWehrkreis VI in the fall of 1939. After the October 1939 Plot failed, officer of the Waffen-SS arrested Ziegler and other Wehrmacht officers at Wehrkreis headquarters in Münster for being part of the plot. Whether or not Ziegler actually was involved is unknown.[136]